Recap: Quakes drop USOC Quarterfinal 1-0 vs. Seattle

SAN FRANCISCO – The San Jose Earthquakes dropped a U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinal 1-0 against Seattle Sounders FC on Tuesday at Kezar Stadium, eliminating the Quakes from the tournament.

Cordell Cato gave the visitors an initial lead in the 18th minute. The Earthquakes dominated the remainder of the match, holding court in Seattle’s half for lengthy stretches while pushing to find an equalizer. Chris Wondolowski, Steven Lenhart and Marvin Chavez came off the bench in the second half as the Earthquakes continued to pepper Seattle’s box with crosses, but San Jose ultimately bowed out of the tournament.

The Earthquakes had reached the U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals for the eighth time in club history.

San Jose returns to action on Saturday, June 30 against the LA Galaxy at Stanford Stadium. Kickoff is 7 p.m. PT on ESPN2, Telemundo, 1590 KLIV and 1370 KZSF. The club announced a sellout on Tuesday and no additional tickets are available for purchase.

On performance of the Quakes:
“You have to give Seattle credit for the way they defended. We just couldn’t quite get the touch we needed in the last 35 minutes. What I liked about the performance was that we pushed; we pushed the issue in the game and on a difficult pitch. Both teams struggled to play decent football. We had to go direct and I thought we were effective without scoring. Spirit wise, I thought it was a good performance.”

On playing Seattle:
“I think there is always a rivalry between us and Seattle. We beat them this year once at their home and they beat us here in the Cup. We got to play them twice again, so we’re going to look forward to that.”

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD CHRIS WONDOLOWSKI

On end of the game:
“We have two heated rivals going against each other on the field for 90 minutes. We’re both good teams this year so there will be a lot of fight and a lot of heart, and when you put 22 guys together running around on a small bumpy field … there’s going to be a lot of fire. “

On Earthquakes’ offensive struggles during the game:
“I thought we did a really good job playing in the second half. We got the ball wide and were getting a lot of crosses in, but Seattle played well. Defensively, they were organized and they deserve a lot of credit. Their keeper had a few nice saves on us and that’s a recipe for a shutout.”

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER SAM CRONIN

On second half:
“It’s an important game so you know it’ll get rough and competitive towards the end. It was tough to find a rhythm and the field was bumpy and unpredictable."